Hammer mechanism for firearms



Jan. 9, 1968 c. E. ROWE, JR

HAMMER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1966CHARLES EDWARD ROWE, JR.

INVENTOR. BY Mfl,

Jan. 9, 1968 c. E. ROWE. JR

HAMMER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1966CHARLES EDWARD ROWE, JR.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofifice 3,352,0fi Patented Jan. 9, 1968 3,362,096HAMMER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS Charles Edward Rowe, Jru, Templeton, Mass.Harrington & Richardson, Inc., Park Ave., Worcester, Mass. 01605) FiledAug. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 574,742 4 Claims. (Cl. 42--20) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A firearm having a hammer and a scar therefor, and areciprocatory power-operated bolt which causes the hammer to beretracted to a position where it is caught by the sear and both thehammer and sear having independent springs and inter-engaging impactmeans on the hammer and sear limiting the motion of the hammer underinfluence of the bolt so that it will not rebound under actuation by thebolt.

This invention relates to a new and improved hammer mechanism forfirearms, the principal object of the invention residing in theprovision of means associated with a hammer for a firearm particularlyof the semior automatic type whereby the hammer is protected againstdamaging other parts of the mechanism upon the power operated action ofthe bolt. It has been found that in some firearms the force of themotion of the bolt is so extreme as to strike the hammer unduly andcause it to rebound with considerable force against other parts of thefirearm including the scar and parts of the receiver and pins, etc.adjacent the sear.

The invention in the present case however provides means whereby thehammer rebounds with respect to this sear and takes advantage of theposition of the sear spring in such a way as to dampen this excessiveeffect, thus improving the action.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view through a firearm receiver showing the firingmechanism with the hammer in cocked position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the hammer in firing position;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the hammer and the sear in the extremeretracted position of the hammer, and

FIG. 4 shows a modification.

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a firearm which has a receiver10, a barrel 12, a reciprocating bolt 14, an action rod 16, and variousother necessary but conventional parts.

There is a firing pin 18 in the bolt and it will be seen that the boltis of the delayed blow-back action type which carries with it the actionrod 16, the action rod also recocking the firing mechanism.

The hammer is shown as pivoted on a pin 20, the hammer being indicatedat 22 and having a spring 24 tending to move the hammer in acounterclockwise direction in order to strike the firing pin 18 when thetrigger at 26 is pressed. The trigger has interengagement with the searwhich is indicated at 28 as explained in copending patent applicationSer. No. 415,307 filed Dec. 2, 1964, now US. Patent 3,314,183, and it ispivoted in the receiver on the sear pin 30. As shown considerably to theright of the pin 30 in FIG. 1, there is a sear spring 32 which tends tomove the sear to the hammer-locking condition shown in FIG. 1, spring 32bearing against a point on the bottom of the receiver which is indicatedat 34.

The hammer and sear have interengaging nose portions at 36 by which thehammer is cocked as shown in FIG. 1, and these portions are providedalso with adjacent cam areas etc. at 38 and 40 to provide for the nose36 on the hammer to slip past the corresponding nose on the sear so asto achieve the cocking effect.

In this case the hammer has a novel feature provided in an extendingbarrier member 42 which extends upwardly to the rear and as shown inFIG. 1 overlies the sear. When the bolt is moved toward the rear withgreat energy, the extending portion or barrier 42 strikes the top of thescar on the surface thereof which is indicated at 44 causing the sear tomove slightly in a counterclockwise direction against the action of thesear spring 32. The barrier 42 prevents the hammer from moving anyfarther in a clockwise direction than is indicated in FIG. 3 and thussaves the bottom of the receiver and the area of the sear adjacent thesear pin 30 from a battering effect which would otherwise be present.The scar spring acts as a dashpot cushioning the entire effect and atthe same time is sufiicient to bring the sear back into hammernoseengaging position as shown at 36 in order to cock the firearm. Also ofcourse as shown in FIG. 2, when the trigger is pressed the sear is movedin a clockwise direction to release the nose engagement at 36 and allowthe hammer spring 24 to move the hammer to firing position, see FIG. 2.

The relative angles of the striking faces of the barrier 42 and the searcan be altered according to the effect to be produced. Thus if thesesurfaces are largely diametrical relative to the center of trigger pin20, the blow on sear surface 44 is relatively great. However if thesesurfaces are changed to tangential to larger and larger circles aboutpin 20, the degree of blow is lessened and a kind of wiping actionappears between the surfaces of the barrier and sear, rather than asharp hammer-like blow. This is illustrated at 46 in FIG. 4.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notWish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In a firearm of the type having a hammer and a scar therefor, and areciprocatory power-operated bolt which causes the hammer to beretracted to a position where it is caught by the sear and both thehammer and sear having independent springs, that improvement whichincludes interengaging impact means on the hammer and sear limiting themotion of the hammer under influence of said bolt, said interengagingmeans including a projection on the hammer. v

2. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said projection on the hammer islocated in a position to strike the sear and the sear spring is in aposition to aid in absorbing the impact.

3. The firearm of claim 1 wherein the hammer and sear are independentlypivoted on parallel axes with interengaging cocking means between themfor holding the hammer cocked, the sear spring being located to one sideof the axis of the sear, the projection on the hammer overlying the searin cocked condition of the hammer.

4. The firearm of claim 1 wherein the hammer and sear are independentlypivoted on parallel axes with interengaging cocking means between themfor holding the hammer cocked, the sear spring being located to one sideof the axis of the scar and the interengaging impact means between thehammer and the sear being in the form of a projection of the hammeroverlying the sear i in cocked condition of the hammer in a position tostrike the sear and compress the sear spring, the latter acting as aresilient takeup for the blow of the hammer projection on the sear.

References (Iited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1958 Simpson 42-69 3/1963Allyn 4269

